There's no doubt that pasta is the emblem of Italian cookery. Along the western coast, from Liguria down to Sicily, a climate suitable for drying and the wealth of durum wheat grown in the south are two factors favouring the production of dried pastas.

On the eastern shores, from Apulia up to Romagna, a series of home-made pastas has evolved - maccheroni alla chitarra, orecchiette, strascinati and garganelli- available both fresh and dried. Finally in the Po Valley, with a humid climate that prevents drying, we find the simplest form of pasta, the sheets from which tagliolini, tagtiatelle, lasagna and the enormous range of filled pastas are derived.